Blog 14

1. To make sure that there is safe water in my area, it's important to stop pollution, advocate for clean energy and alternatives to oil, advocate for no pesticides that could run off, as well as using natural products without chemicals in terms of cleaning supplies and beauty products. 
I found a few organizations in the Bay Area that work on water protection. One of the most interesting that I found is called Baykeeper, and they work to monitor pollution in the Bay. One thing that I found really interesting about it is that they have a patrol boat that they have go around the Bay to investigate potentially harmful activities. 
2. I love the idea of being a groundwater guardian in my community, and I loved reading about Ms. Seacrest's story and the fact that she became interested in groundwater after noting he son's illness. I love that she is self-educated, and also collaborated with a variety of people and professionals in bringing together communities to protect water. 
3. The Trump administration has attempted and at time successfully rolled back regulations for clean water. As part of my policy changes, I would revitalize the Clean Water Act - with stricter regulations regarding pesticide use/agriculture as a whole. There have to be policy changes in the US regarding sustainable agriculture, organic farming, and allowing soil to regenerate after crops have been planted so that fertilizer with heavy chemicals are not necessary. These actions would decrease pesticides and therefore decrease pesticide run-off into the groundwater. 

One piece of environmental news that I was interested in reading this week was about Lake Malawi, and how some women are forced to trade sex for fish due to overfishing and resulting shortages of fish. The article shows the intersectionality of environmental issues, and that environmental justice is gender justice is racial justice. Sustainable and responsible fishing methods have to be practiced.

Comments

  1. WiniKaksOctober 27, 2019 at 8:43 AM

    Hi Kathleen, Lake Malawi's story is disturbing. The women are forced to have sex with fishers if they do not have enough money to buy fish. The prices for fish have gone up due to shortage. To curb the problem, community leaders have introduced economic empowerment initiatives for women, including a loan program.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Janna LinOctober 27, 2019 at 10:45 PM

    Hi Kathleen, you have highlighted the very real problem of unclean or toxic water supply for many people around the world, as is the case with Lake Malawi. To think that we take for granted, mainly access to a basic necessity like water, what others in less fortunate areas must spend considerable time, energy, and money to procure.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Blog 21

1. I found some news on California's law that new homes must have solar panels on their roofs for energy sources. In Sacramento, local government is determining if homeowners can receive solar from off-site solar generators, or if it has to be from the homeowner's own home. If Sacramento approves off-site solar, it's likely that other cities would follow. One consideration is that on-home solar provides benefits of: extra energy bill savings per month, ability to keep lights on during a blackout, as well as less money invested overall into external off-site solar generators. The fact that solar panels can create energy that allows for power to be on during black outs (which could become more and more common as climate change makes fire season longer and more challenging) has an immense impact on health. For one, people that rely on refrigerators to keep medications like insulin cool, or who need CPAP machines to be plugged in, would greatly benefit from clean energy that ca...
Read more

Blog 25

1. I learned a lot from this module - I had no idea that exposure to latex gloves increases the chances of asthma later in life, and that nurses and custodians are the most greatly affected by that. One solution to think about is purchasing latex free biodegradable gloves. This would be better for nurses, as well as for the environment. Nurses go through pairs of gloves so quickly - and I understand that it's important for both nurse and patient safety - but sometimes it's so frustrating to see piles of gloves being thrown away that cannot be recycled. Biodegradable gloves would at least address part of the issue. 2. I looked into becoming a climate champion on the envirn website. I'm planning on learning more about how to be a climate advocate at my work. Environmental news:   I've been hearing a lot about flooding in Venice lately and have been curious as to what its future will be as sea levels continue to rise. I found an article about this issue on NPR - Venice rec...
Read more

Blog 26

1. When I looked up information on my phone, I found that it stated it met all of the safety criteria that the United States lists for it. After this module, I think it's important to be aware of radiation risks from our phones, and to use them in intentional ways. Sometimes I'll stick my phone into my waist band to keep it there and it's directly touching my skin - which is something I should work to not do. It all speaks to a greater issue of how we're likely too dependent and attached to our phones (I'm sure that I am guilty of that) and probably need to take a step back from phone use as a whole - for physical and mental health. 2. Nurses should certainly provide holistic education regarding phone exposure and children. This also relates to the fact that kids should probably have limits on screen time in general - I saw an article about how kids have slower brain development if they have high levels of screen time. Regardless, nurses should definitely educate ca...
Read more